DSHS DDA 2025-2027 Operating Budget Requests

The Department of Social and Health Services submitted a $4.4 billion 2025-27 Operating Budget request and a $626.5 million Capital Budget request to the Office of Financial Management on Sept.10. 

Over the last 12 months, the department has made significant progress to close service delivery gaps. With funding from the Governor and Legislature, we leased and staffed a facility at Lake Burien. With this additional capacity, youth who have complex behavioral health and developmental disability needs now have a first-in-the-nation facility that provides therapeutic care. 

While we have made significant progress, our work is not done. Now we must focus on sustaining these achievements and addressing the challenges of the future. 

Highlights of the Operating Budget include: 

• State-Operated Community Residential Expansion: $50.8 million and 192 FTEs for the SOCR program, which provides long-term services and supports for people with disabilities to live in community settings rather than an institution.  
• Expand Lake Burien Transitional Care Facility: $21.2 million and 77 FTEs to increase capacity from 12 to 24 beds at the facility.  
• Continue Klamath Cottage: $6.3 million and 27 FTEs to continue operating emergency transitional support at Klamath Cottage at Rainier School. This supports up to 16 people waiting in acute care hospitals for community placements. 
• Financial Eligibility Staff: $7.5 million and 31 FTEs to improve the timeliness and accuracy of Medicaid financial application processing, eligibility reviews and case management.  

Highlights of the Capital Budget include: 

• Fircrest School – $92.6 million for a new mixed-use building and DSHS Behavioral Health Administration 48-bed capacity. 
• Pendent Alarm Systems: $34.8 million for on-staff devices to increase staff safety at Eastern State Hospital, Western State Hospital, Maple Lane and Lakeland Village. 

As with all budget requests, this is the beginning of the process. OFM will consider requests and based upon priorities and revenue, will submit the Governor’s Budget in mid-December to the 2025 Legislature. The Legislature will convene in January and enact a final budget to fund each agency. We will keep you apprised of developments and the detailed budget requests can be found here.   

Sincerely,